


15,000

by averagegirl07



Series: Dr. Reid and Dr. Moore [1]
Category: Criminal Minds, Original Work
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-09
Updated: 2017-06-09
Packaged: 2018-11-12 02:17:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11152128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/averagegirl07/pseuds/averagegirl07
Summary: The BAU is called to investigate the brutal murder of an insane 15,000 victims. When they arrive in Vegas, they meet Dr. Ashley Moore, a forensic anthropologist. She helps point the BAU in the direction of the killer and one member starts to fall for Dr. Moore.





	15,000

Lucy stopped by a park bench, painting for breath. She had been running for who knows how long. She looked behind, making sure he wasn't behind her and tried to find the road. She jogged a little ways until she found what looked like a service road. She heard an engine off in distance and stood in the middle of the road, waving her arms and screaming for them to stop. As the vehicle came into view, someone grabbed her from behind and drug her off into the surrounding brush. Lucy tried to scream but the man covered her mouth. She kicked and scratched at him but he wasn't phased. After a few minutes of letting his victim flail around, he got tired and knocked her out with the butt of his gun. 

“Nelson Mandela once said, ‘It always seems impossible until it’s done.’” (Agent Hotchner)

Aaron Hotchner finished putting away the breakfast bowls while his son Jack got ready for school.  
“Almost ready buddy?” he hollered from the kitchen.  
“Yep!” Jack came out in a superhero costume.  
Aaron laughed. “Are you Superman?” he asked.  
“I'm you daddy!” Jack laughed.  
Aaron smiled. “Go put some real clothes on. We don't want you to be late on your first day of school.” Jack nodded and ran back to his room to change.  
“Ready dad.” Jack came out with a striped shirt and khaki shorts.  
“Alright let's go,” Aaron grabbed his keys and they walked out the door. 

As he walked in, JJ met him at the door and handed him a folder.  
“He's back,” she whispered as they passed the rest of the team.  
“You sure?” Hotch asked. JJ nodded. “Get everyone together in the conference room now.” JJ headed off to get the rest of the BAU.  
When everyone was settled in the conference room, Hotch closed the door.  
“Must be pretty bad if the door is closed,” Derek Morgan noted.  
“JJ?” Hotch nodded for JJ to start.  
“If you remember a few decades ago, we had a series of killings that totaled in the upper hundreds to low thousands. The unsub was never caught, even though we had the profile of a white male, mid twenties and liked blondes. He is now in his mid to late forties and we believe he is back.” JJ brought up the photos of several hundred women of all ages on the big screen. “He doesn't have a specific age range as you can see.”  
“He's already killed that many women in twenty years?” David Rossi asked.  
“Yes and we don't know how many he's killed since he's resurfaced. We have to move fast if we want to catch the bastard,” Hotch informed them.  
“How does one person kill that many people in that time span?” Emily Prentiss chimed in, curious.  
“We believe he killed numerous women a day, snatching them from parking lots or using some type of ruse to get them alone. We do know some of them had families and were reported missing only to have the victims show up dead a few days later along with however many he abducted.”  
“And no one has ever seen this man?” Dr. Spencer Reid asked. “That seems very odd.”  
“Or he made sure no one would turn him in by threatening them and their families,” Morgan suggested.  
“Either way, he clearly doesn't care who, when, or where he takes them. They're just toys to him,” Rossi said.  
“Right. So, we'll be heading to Las Vegas. Wheels up in ten,” Hotch informed them. Everyone closed their folders and headed out to grab their bags.  
“I'll meet you all there in a minute,” Hotch called after them. “I have to have someone watch Jack.” Everyone nodded and Hotch called his sister-in-law. 

The BAU landed in Sin City a few hours later. Reid, Morgan, Rossi and Hotchner went to the most recent crime scene while JJ and Prentiss headed to the local police station.  
At the recent crime scene, Hotch introduced the team to Sheriff Novak.  
“As you can see, this is where Lucy was abducted.” Sheriff Novak showed them where they believed Lucy had been abducted.  
“No one saw anything?” Reid asked, looking around the scene.  
“Nope. There was possibly an eye witness but we aren't sure.” Sheriff Novak led them to the man sitting by his truck, arguing with another officer.  
“I’ll talk with him,” Morgan volunteered.  
“Aright. Rossi go with him. Reid and I will search for anything that might have been missed.” Hotch and Reid headed into the brush while Rossi and Morgan went over to talk with the driver.  
“Hey. I'm Agent Derek Morgan and this is Agent David Rossi. We'd like to ask you a few questions.”  
“I already told that other officer I didn't see anything!” the guy shouted.  
“What's your name?” Rossi asked.  
“Will.”  
“You're sure you didn't see anything Will?” Morgan asked again.  
“No. I looked up and saw a blur going off into the trees but I didn't see no faces.” Will reached for a cigarette. “Can I go now? I got a deadline.”  
“Sure.” Morgan handed him a card. “Call if you remember or see anything else.”  
Will snatched the card, got in his truck and drove off.  
“Nice guy,” Rossi said sarcastically as they joined the others.  
“I think he saw more than he let on,” Morgan said as they approached Hotch and Reid.  
“They'll keep an eye on him,” Sheriff Novak said, nodding to his other officers. “The rest will watch this area the next few days.”  
“We should head back and see what Prentiss has on the victimology.” Hotch and the others got in car and followed the sheriff to the station.

Lucy woke up on her side. She felt a sharp pain in her head and sat up slowly, hoping the room would stop spinning. She tried to look around and get a feel of her surroundings but it was pitch black. She used her hands to feel around and felt a lumpy mattress underneath her. She went to reach farther, but she heard the rattling of chains. She tried to keep her composure but couldn't.  
“Please. Why are you doing this to me?” Lucy begged her captor. She knew he could hear her; he was watching her.  
“It doesn't help,” a voice came from her right in the darkness. “He enjoys this.”  
“What's your name?” Lucy asked the voice.  
“Abby,” the voice answered.  
“How long have you been here?”  
“I don't know. Maybe a week.”  
“Are there others?’  
“I think so. I've heard them come and go over the last few days.”  
“How many?”  
“Maybe ten.”  
The conversation stopped as they heard the door open. Metal bowls were slid into each of their little cells and the door closed again. Lucy heard Abby practically shove the food into her mouth.  
“You better eat. This is it for the day,” Abby told Lucy. Lucy got on her hands and knees and felt around the floor for the bowl. She felt a bread like substance and maybe some vegetables.  
“So, he's had ten women here in the past week?” Lucy asked, her mouth full.  
“I think so.” Abby had finished and was licking her bowl. “I don't know what he does with them when he takes them out, but I do know they never return.”  
Lucy looked into the darkness in the direction Abby's voice was coming from, then at the door where the food came from.  
I'm going to die. she thought. “When does he usually get them?”  
Before Abby could answer, the door opened again and Lucy heard Abby shout.  
“No! Please no!” Abby shouted. She screamed in pain and Lucy heard Abby being drug out of the room then silence. Lucy waited for the man to come back in. It was about an hour later when he did. When he reached for the bowl, Lucy was horrified. He was covered in blood from his face to his hands. Lucy stared at him for a moment and when he noticed, he gave her a smile. She coward in the corner and when he left, she cried.

“What do we have so far?” Hotch asked Emily and JJ as he and the rest of the team walked into the crowded and messy conference room at the station.  
“Not much,” Emily replied. Papers from the now old cases were everywhere-on the table, on the cork board, some were even on the floor where Emily had been sitting. “We’ve been through the old records and haven't even come up with a name.”  
“Nothing's changed,” JJ added, a slight look of defeat on her face. “No new methods of the kills. He hasn't even left the city.”  
“He has to know we're here by now,” Reid stated.  
“I'm sure he does. Looks like the FBI has been on his case since he first appeared twenty years ago,” Rossi said, looking over some old files.  
“The radius of the area he kills is approximately 100 square miles,” Reid calculated in his head, looking at the map on the board. “And most of that is surprisingly natural forest.”  
“Great. So he could be anywhere.” Emily looked at the map. “So what do you wanna do?” she asked Hotch.  
“We need to break it down and search the whole area. It may take a few days but we need to find this guy.”  
Sheriff Novak stuck his head in. “Sorry to interrupt but we have something you need to see.” The team followed the sheriff out of the room. “It's quite the drive so if you need to fill up, do it now.”

Lucy had cried herself to sleep in the corner when she was woken up by the sound of the heavy door open and the patter of several women's bare feet on the concrete. She tried to make it look like she was still asleep as the man drug the women into separate cells, chained them up, and left. The new women were weeping, unsure of what was happening to them. When she was sure the man was not coming back, Lucy spoke up.  
“How many of you are there?” she whispered, barely able to get the words out. She was so hoarse from hardly having any water the last two days.  
“Three,” one of the women responded, scared to death.  
“Why are we here? Why is he doing this?” another woman asked from across the little walkway.  
“I don't know,” Lucy responded weakly. Lucy could feel the despair come over the room, the darkness heavier than usual. “What day is it?”  
“Wednesday,” the woman on her left informed her. “I'm Brittany, by the way.”  
“Please, don't tell me your name. It won't make a difference.” Lucy could tell Brittany dropped her head. Lucy felt bad but didn't want to get to know these women's names because she knew she only had a few days, if that, to live. As the others wept out loud, asking why them, Lucy just sat there, staring into the darkness. 

As the BAU and the Vegas police and homicide squad pulled up to the crime scene, no one knew what to say. It was horrific: body parts were everywhere with arms in numerous pieces, the sand was red instead of its usual desert color.  
“There must be, what? Thousands of bodies here?” Morgan asked no one in particular, scanning the landscape.  
“Looks like everything has been gnawed on by scavengers and coyotes.” Reid picked up a leg that looked to have been there for at least ten years. There was hardly any meat left on the bone but he did notice some very fine markings. “Hey guys. I think I might have found tool marks.”  
He placed it in a forensic bag which got passed along to the coroner, a small petite woman who looked like she couldn't have been more than thirty years old.  
“Yep. Those are tool marks alright. I'll figure out what kind when I get this and all of this back to my office.” She glanced around, amazed at how many bodies there were. “I'm gonna need some help identifying all these remains,” she told the sheriff, who was a few feet away practically puking his guts out. He gave her a thumbs up letting her know he got the message.  
“Alright. Everyone get to work on the collection. We’ll worry about what belongs to who later.” Hotch gave everyone some gloves and forensic bags and the coroner gave a quick rundown of how to handle the different parts that were more decayed than others.  
After two hours, Rossi found what appeared to be the most recent victim. He called the coroner and sheriff over immediately. Everything was still intact, minus a few bits of flesh here and there. The woman's eyes were also missing.  
“The vultures love the eyes,” the coroner said. “They have the most nutrients.” She picked up each part one by one, being careful as to not contaminate or lose any more valuable evidence. “I'll take her back right now. Hopefully I'll have something by morning for you all.” She packed her things as Rossi thanked her. She hopped in her van and sped down the dusty desert road.  
Sheriff Novak looked up and noticed the sky looked threatening off in the distance.  
“We should try and hurry up. There's a storm coming our way.”  
“Everyone gather what you can. We'll have to come back tomorrow,” Hotch hollered at his team. Sheriff Novak did the same to the other officers and forensic techs. As the storm got closer, the wind swirled the dust in the air, making it hard to breathe and even see. Everyone rushed to pick up whatever else they could and make it back to the vans before the sky let loose and the rain, thunder and lightening started. 

After working nonstop that night, the coroner called Sheriff Novak and Agent Hotchner to her morgue. She looked tired when Hotch walked in. She was still wearing the clothes she had on at the crime scene, her hair was a disheveled mess, and she was eating a granola bar as she talked.  
“Okay. I unfortunately don't have exact COD, or cause of death, but I do have an ID.” She pulled up a profile on her computer, which had a slight hum to it. “Our victim is Abby Hawk. She went missing a few weeks ago but police gave up on her search.” She gave a sideway glance to the sheriff, hoping he wouldn't get mad at her.  
“She's his type-blonde female,” Hotch noted. “How old is she?”  
“She would've been 30 today,” the coroner said solemnly.  
“Thanks Ashley,” Sheriff Novak said, starting to leave.  
“Wait! You don't wanna hear the best part?” Ashley excitedly proclaimed. The sheriff and Hotch turned around, eager to hear more. “I found what might be a piece of skin or tissue in her teeth,” Ashley told them, dragging them back to the metal slab. She gently opened Abby's mouth. “It was caught between the canine and incisor on the right side.” She picked up a petri dish with the sample nicely preserved. She wore a smile on her face so big, Hotch knew she had found their unsub.  
“What's his name?” he asked impatiently.  
Ashley turned, hit a few keys on the keyboard and brought up quite a lengthy record. “You're crazy guy has been quite the bad boy. At age thirteen, he was placed in Juvi for killing a bird on school property. He only did a few months but when he turned sixteen, he was tried as an adult in the attempted robbery of his aunt. He got off with the murder of his uncle because they suspected he had a partner. Now, I can tell you're eager for that name agent but I promise, this stuff is gold...” As she continued on the suspect’s rap sheet, Hotch couldn't help but think of her as Garcia. She was smart, techy, excited about weird stuff but she also didn't mind the death and gore of the job. Ashley brought him back to the conversation.  
“Ok, now, twenty years ago is where it gets a little dicey. He must have perfected his crime of killing because he was never spotted or turned in, even after abducting, and now killing, thousands of women. I oddly applaud him for taking that many.” She looked back to her screen, looking for any information she may have missed. "Alright, Agent Hotchner." She paused again, her fingers pressing the keys on the keyboard. The sound of the clicking made the moments tick by like hours. "Here is," she said slowly, her eyes still on the screen, "the moment of truth for you."  
Hotch was getting impatient. The information was time sensitive and she was checking more information. "Well?" he said, his voice strained as though bad news is awaiting him.  
Ashley's eyes leapt from one end of the screen to the other, her brain working quickly to find the information she had just seen. “His name is John Cooper.”  
“Thank you,” Hotch said, dialing a number on his phone. “Garcia. I have a name. John Cooper. I want you to look up any known addresses or relatives still living. I want to know everything.” He hung up, turned around and nodded to Ashley. “Not that I don't think you'll find all that. She's just faster.” He held up his phone, indicating he could get the information he needed in a matter of hours than a days. Sheriff Novak followed him out of the morgue, catching his breath when they got to the car.  
“John's father used to live around here. He owned a butcher shop a few miles from here,” he said, pointing down the road. “Your people are a bit closer if…”  
Hotch held up a hand. “Morgan. I want you and Rossi to head over to Pioche. Our unsub grew up there. See if anyone remembers him. His name is John Cooper. I'm sending you a photo now.” He finished sending the picture and turned to the sheriff. “Sorry. I was thinking the same thing. We'd better get back and see they've found anything new.”  
As they got in the car, the sheriff said not to worry about it and they sped off to the police station. 

“This guy is one sick man,” Morgan told Rossi as they made their way to Pioche. He read the rap sheet to Rossi and all Rossi could do was whistle. “I doubt this guy had any friends with the way his childhood turned out,” Morgan continued. “This list is three miles long and I still can't believe he was never caught for these murders back in the day.”  
“Strange world we live in nowadays,” Rossi told him, swerving in and out of traffic. They had turned their sirens and lights on shortly after they left but no one seemed to care. “This is ridiculous. Don't these people know to move when there's sirens?” Rossi yelled at the unmoving cars.  
“Rossi? You know they can't hear you, right?” Morgan asked, a grin spreading across his face.  
“Yeah yeah,” Rossi muttered. He stepped on the gas and went onto the berm of the road, around the cars and sped the rest of the way to Pioche.  
When the two got to John's hometown, they were a little surprised at what they saw. The little town was bustling with locals buying produce, going in and out of the restaurants and local butcher shop.  
“Looks like the place to be,” Morgan said as they pulled up to the butcher shop. He looked around before he got out, noticing some people staring at them or retreating into whatever shop they were closest to. “Let's go make some friends Rossi.” Rossi just gave out a short grunt and got out of the car. Morgan followed, leading the way into the butcher shop. When they walked in, one lady behind the counter noticed them right away.  
“What can I do for ya fellas?” she asked, not really interested in helping at all.  
“We're looking for John Cooper.” Rossi pulled the picture up on his phone. “Do you know or recognize him?”  
“Sure do. He and his daddy used to run this place together.”  
“Used to?” Morgan asked, walking around looking at the different cuts of meat.  
“His daddy died of cancer a few months ago. Poor John. He was so upset he walked out of here one day and never came back.” She glanced between the two officers. “Why are you looking for him?”  
“Is there a family member still around that we can talk too? Or a friend he used to hang out with?” Rossi prodded.  
“I'm his aunt, Victoria. John's father was my brother.”  
“Could we speak to you privately?” Rossi suggested, trying to not draw attention from the few customers lingering.  
Victoria nodded and instructed the customers to come back in an hour. Once they left, she flipped the sign to CLOSED and locked the door.  
“Now, why are you looking for John?” she asked again.  
‘We believe he is connected with a series of murders,” Morgan said.  
“What?” Victoria gasped. “I don't believe you!”  
“Ma'am, we aren't sure of anything yet. We would like to know if you have seen him and if you have, has he been acting strangely lately?”  
Victoria thought for a moment. “I haven't seen him in a few weeks.”  
“Do you remember any of his friends from his childhood at all?” Rossi asked, trying to get any type of answer from her.  
“Anna Miller, I think was her name. They were best friends but after he had to start working with his dad, they never saw a each other.” Victoria crossed her arms then uncrossed them. She just couldn't believe her nephew could do something like this. “Are you sure he could be connected to all of this?”  
“Again, we aren't sure but we’ll keep you updated.”Rossi handed her his card. “If you see him or think of anything, give me a call.” Victoria took the card, nodding. “Now where does Anna Miller live?”  
“Same place for years.” Victoria smiled. “2341 Pinoche Dr.”  
“Thank you,” Rossi and Morgan said in unison.  
As they turned to leave, Victoria called after them. “Please, if he did do this, kick his ass for me.” Morgan and Rossi just looked at each other and smiled. 

Morgan knocked on Anna Miller’s door thirty minutes later. They stopped at one of the local diners for some lunch because they had left the station before they could eat.  
“Anna Miller?” Morgan knocked again. He tried the handle and the door opened. He and Rossi reached for their guns and they cautiously entered the residence. When they cleared the first floor, Rossi headed upstairs and Morgan found the door to the basement. Morgan slowly made his way down the stairs, checking every dark corner with his flashlight until he found the switch. When he turned it on, it illuminated why Anna hadn't come to the door. Blood spatter was on the ceiling and the walls, but it ended up pooling on the floor. Furniture was tipped over and a lamp had been knocked off of the side table. Rossi had joined Morgan by then.  
“Looks like there was a struggle,” he observed. Morgan nodded in agreement. They both stepped around the scene, careful to not disturb anything.  
“It doesn't look like a robbery. There's a safe over there against the wall that hasn't been tampered with. The only thing missing is Anna.” Morgan pulled out his phone to call Hotch and the team but Rossi stopped him real quick.  
“Does this place look familiar to you?” he asked, showing Morgan a picture that had been sitting on the table.  
“No. Should it?” Morgan took the photo from Rossi to examine it closer. As he did, he did faintly recognize the landmark in the background. “This is the butcher shop…” Morgan thought for a moment. “Come on. Let's do a little experiment.” He led Rossi out of the house, calling Hotch as he went to let him know about the gruesome discovery. When they got to downtown, Morgan looked at the photo and at the current shops.  
“What's missing?” he asked Rossi, holding the photo up to match the landscape.  
“There's a building or a shed of some kind that should be here,” Rossi pointed out between the butter shop and the local supermarket. “So where is it?” They both headed to where the shed should have been only to find an old pile of ashes.  
“If you're looking for the shed, John burnt it down a few years ago.” Victoria had come out the back door of the shop. “His daddy told him too. Said there no one should ever see what they did in there.”  
“Is this where they killed the animals?” Morgan asked.  
“No. All that was was done in the back room by the freezer. I don't know what the hell they did in there. Don't wanna know either.” She placed the trash bad in the dumpster that she had come out with and headed back inside.  
“We're looking for a lot more bodies,” Rossi said solemnly. 

“The man we’re looking for is John Cooper. He used to live here with his father until he passed away.” The BAU was briefing the local police department on the unsub and what to look for when out on patrol.  
“He used to work at the butcher shop which is probably where he learned his skill of dismembering the women,” Prentiss told the group. “His father was the first to help develop this skill by taking some runaways who passed through town or prostitutes from the neighboring counties.”  
“He’s been using this craft even more since his father died,” Morgan explained. “This is what we call a trigger. This is what caused him to snap and take even more victims. It keeps the memory of his father alive in a way.”  
“We believe over the past twenty years, he has abducted and killed more than ten thousand women.” Hotch surveyed the room, watching the eyebrows of every officer raise. “We aren’t sure how he has come to such an unspeakable amount or how he’s gotten away with it for so long but it stops here.”  
“We are passing around a list of the most recent possible victims. We also believe a few of them are still alive. Among them is a local named Anna Miller. We need to find out where he is keeping these women in order to save them.” Prentiss and JJ passed out the list while Reid continued. “We also think you all may know of the place he is keeping them. It may seem ordinary but hidden, with possible locks or bars on the windows.”  
The group of officers studied the list and took notes, all the while shaking their heads in disbelief. One officer raised his hand.  
“I think I know where you’re talking about.” He looked around and back at Agent Hotchner. “It’s just up by the highway. All the noise could drown out any screams and I’ve noticed on my patrol that bars have been added, especially to the basement windows.”  
“Thank you,” Hotch told him. “Alright. You all know where we’re headed now. Be on your guard. We are not sure if he’s armed or not.” Everyone gathered their notes and headed to the cars.. 

Anna, Lucy and the other women were sleeping on their lumpy mattresses when the door slammed opened. John stormed in, grabbed the keys and opened the door to Anna’s cell.  
“Come here!” he yelled, grabbing her by her hair. Anna fought and scratched at him, trying to free herself but his grip was strong. He drug her out and the other women shouted at him, trying to break free to help. In his haste to drag Anna out, he dropped the keys and didn't notice. Lucy had managed to loosen herself from her restraints due to being dehydrated and malnourished. She slipped out when he was gone. She reached for the keys but they were just out of her reach. She frantically looked around for something in her cell and found that a spring from the mattress had broke and lying on the ground. She straightened it out and gave it a hook on the end and tried again. She hooked the keys, unlocked her door and the others and the three other women snuck out, hoping to rescue Anna. 

Sirens pierced the evening air as the BAU and local law enforcement sped to the location of John Cooper. As they got closers, they spotted Lucy and the other women he had taken. Hotch came screeching to a halt and jumped out. Prentiss and JJ were right behind him to comfort them.  
“Where is he?” Hotch asked frantically.  
“He went that way,” Lucy managed to choked out.  
Hotch got on his radio and relayed the information while Emily and JJ got the women into the vehicle.  
It was getting dark when police found the hiding place of their unsub. Morgan, Rossi and Hotch led a few of the local officers around the front. without hesitation, Morgan kicked the door in and a flood of police invaded the tiny house. Reid had gone with another group around back and had broken the back door and they all met in the tiny kitchen.  
“Where is he?” Reid asked, breathing hard.  
“I don't know,” Hotchner said, looking over the house to see if they missed anything. “There.” He pointed to what looked like a part of the wall but was actually a secret door. He motioned for the officers to get ready and quietly opened the door. The odor that welcomed them was so overpowering and oppressive, some of the men had to run outside and vomit.  
“John Cooper! FBI!” Hotch yelled down the secret steps. He heard the faint sound of a woman's scream and he charged down, the rest of the BAU and police right on his heels.  
“Come any closer and she dies!” John threatened. Hotch, Morgan, Rossi and Reid came around the corner, guns drawn.  
“We know you don't want to hurt her John,” Rossi told him, aiming at his head. “She’s your friend.”  
“Please help me!” Anna begged. John pulled her hair, yelling at her to shut up.  
“We know what happened to your father,” Hotch chimed in, trying to distract him. “We know you were close after your mother died…”  
“Shut up!” John hollered. He had been holding a knife close to Anna's throat and he pushed it a little closer.  
“We know he had cancer and that he taught you how to kill at a young age. How many women have you killed John?” Hotch asked, adding more fuel to the already blazing fire inside of John.  
“You’ll never find them all!” he shouted, accidentally loosening his grip on Anna. Anna used the opportunity to move ever so slightly that Hotchner saw what she was doing and took his shot. The bullet pierced John’s shoulder and John dropped the knife. Anna moved while Hotch and Morgan arrested him. Reid and Rossi helped Anna get out of her zip tie and out of harm's way. They had finally caught the world’s single mass murderer in US history. 

Back at the station, now in an orange jumpsuit with hand and ankle cuffs, John was being questioned.  
“How many women have you killed since you were young?” Hotch asked him again. John just stared at the wall behind him. Aaron was getting impatient and snapped. “How many dammit?” he yelled.  
“Like I told you before, you’ll never find them all.” John smiled. “15,000 is quite an accomplishment isn't it?” He said it more like a statement. “I’ll go down in history.”  
“Get him out of here!” Sheriff Novak said above John’s laughter. The other officer in the room took John back to his cell. “15,000 women? How is that even possible?”  
“When you have the help of your father for the first couple hundred, it becomes second nature to you. After his father died, it was the only thing that kept him close to him,” Hotch explained, walking out of the interrogation room. “He’ll get the death penalty for sure, I will see to it.” Hotch shook the sheriff’s hand, sheriff Novak thanking the whole team for coming out. 

As the team flew back Quantico, everyone slept except Aaron and Spencer.  
“Having trouble sleeping again?” Hotch asked, taking the seat across from Reid.  
“Yeah,” Reid said, staring at his little chess game in front of him. “I was doing better but after this case…”  
“I think this one got to all of us,” Hotch reassured Reid. “It’s crazy to think that one person could ever do this to so many innocent lives. No matter how long we do this job, I don't think we’ll ever fully understand why they do what they do.” Hotch moved one of the chess pieces. “Check mate.” Reid sat up, amazed he had missed it.  
“No way!” Reid exclaimed. “We weren't even playing! Rematch,” Reid said, putting the pieces in starting position as Hotch smiled, pleased with himself.  
“You go first,” Hotch said, as they continued their long flight back home. 

I am just a man  
Not superhuman  
(I'm not superhuman)  
Someone save me from the hate

It's just another war  
Just another family torn  
(We're falling from my faith today)  
Just a step from the edge  
Just another day in the world we live

[Chorus:]  
I need a hero to save me now  
I need a hero (save me now)  
I need a hero to save my life  
A hero will save me (just in time)  
-Skillet: ‘Hero’


End file.
